Pamir Highway Day 6: Bulunkul Lake to Murghab

Our schedule today was to take us from Bulunkul Lake to Karakul Lake, rising from 3,700 meters (12,139 feet) up to 3,914 meters (12,800 feet) for our overnight stop.  It’s an exciting day, with a planned spotting of Snow Leopards, a lunch at Murghab, the biggest township for a long way, and then crossing the Ak-Baital Pass, the Pamir Highway’s zenith at 4655 meters (15272 feet), but the universe had a different plan for us.  We didn’t make it as far as Karakol Lake because of a medical emergency, and so we traveled today from Bulunkul Lake to Murghab.  Here’s what happened on day 6 of our Pamir Highway journey.

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This was to be the biggest day, in terms of the altitude that we’d achieve.  It definitely turned out to be the biggest day, for a very different reason, but it started in Bulunkul village, the coldest inhabited location in Tajikistan.  There’s little to no vegetation here, little traffic too, even as we get back onto the Pamir Highway itself after our diversion into the Wahkan Valley, and up here to Bulunkul.

If you want the full route overview first, you can read my 7-day Pamir Highway itinerary here.

Quick Overview of the Route and Statistics

Start: Bulunkul Lake
End: Murghab

• Distance: Approximately 145 kilometers (90 miles)
• Driving time: 3-4 hours including stops
• Starting altitude: 3,700 meters (12,139 feet)
• Highest altitude today: Around 3,914 meters (12,800 feet)
• Overnight altitude: 3,618meters (11,870 feet)
• Costs: Snow leopard Sanctuary Entrance TJS 25 per person, Murghab 200 TJS with dinner and or 150 TJS with breakfast 100 TJS no food 
• Road conditions: Mostly rough tarmac with  gravel sections
• Overnight location: Guesthouse in Murghab

If you’re joining this Pamir Highway narrative part way though, here’ yesterday, Day 5 on the Pamir Highway.

Day 6 – Pamir Highway, What to Expect

Our day started as ever (apart from that one with the 04:30 start) with a 07:30 breakfast and 8:000 set off.  Breakfast along the way has been eggs in one form or another.  Hard-boiled for our early start takeaway and fried everywhere else.  It’s been the same as when we trekked to Everest Base Camp. There comes a point when you’re just egged out. 

Today we got there.  Whether it’s a combination of altitude or just revolting against the same every day, well, it was here.  My guide to altitude on the Pamir Highway is here.

But we all forced them, several cups of hot black (or green) tea down, and yoghurt for those who wanted it.  I did.  It’s fabulous.  And having been on a diet of plain rice and yoghurt after being ill in India some years back, I understand that yoghurt is good for my gut and whatever might be trying to make me ill.

Our plan today is to stop for lunch at the town of Murghab and then cross the Ak-Baital Pass at 4655 meters, the highest point we will reach on the Pamir, and we’ll stay tonight at Karakul Lake.  It’s a 280-kilometer (173 mile) drive.

As we set off today, the landscape is still.  The air is clear and the reflection in the mountain lakes so spectacular, that looking back now, it’s hard to tell what’s mountain and what’s lake.  The heat is extreme here, cold and hot, and it’s a route for heavy traffic.

We are back on the Pamir Highway, the asphalt has melted and moved under the weight of the trucks and reset in ripples.

As we’re traveling across these countries of Central Asia, one animal is common to them all.  The snow leopard.  They live in an area of 2 million square kilometers (that’s about the size of Mexico) spanning 12 countries, but there are only between 3,920 and 6,390 snow leopards left in the wild.  They live high up, up to 5600 meters above sea level, but usually above 3,000 meters.  Your chance of seeing one in the wild is very low and very expensive.

One of our stops today is to try to see a snow leopard.  It proves easier and more disheartening than we thought it would be.

Pamir Highway Day 6: Costs

• Snow leopard Sanctuary Entrance TJS 25 per person
• Murghab 200 TJS with dinner and or 150 TJS with breakfast 100 TJS no food 

Pamir Highway Day 6: Road Conditions & Driving Reality

The road today is relatively straightforward compared to earlier stretches.  It’s still rough in places, but the wide plateau landscape means fewer tight mountain sections and fewer dramatic cliffside roads.  Most of the road is cracked or melted and reformed tarmac.

The biggest factor today isn’t the road, it’s the altitude.  And it’s not just us that are struggling.  Habib’s Land Cruiser finds it tough, but it will find it even tougher when we get to the Ak-Baital Pass at 4655 meters.

Pamir Highway Day 6: Key Stops Along the Way

So today, there’s our plan, and then the reality of what happens.  So I’ll write it as it happened.  Our plan?  It was this.

High Pamir Plateau – Fresh Water Lake

The scenery today is stunning, and the air is so clear.  The landscape here is vast and open, with rolling high-altitude plains stretching for kilometers. We pass moving herds of goats, and then Habib tells us we’re going fishing. (possibly).  Spoiler, we didn’t he was just joking, although I’m sure he would have let us!

Our first stop is a freshwater lake, where the water is gloriously clear, and if you focus, you can see small fish.  It’s cold, of course, and then as we stop and look around, there are people crouched down fishing in the streams feeding this small lake.

The Snow Leopard Sanctuary

About 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) before we reach Murghab, we make a brief stop.  There’s a Snow Leopard sanctuary here.  Snow leopards that have come down from the mountains and are unable to fend for themselves in the wild are caught, rehabilitated, and released.  There’s a huge enclosure here; the fences are enormous, which gives you some idea of the athletic abilities of the snow leopards. 

The sanctuary has been open since 2023.  It costs 25 TJS each to visit.  There’s only one snow leopard that we can see.  It’s inside an enclosure, the door closed, and as we are here, it growls continuously as we peek through the gap in the door.  I’m glad we’ve seen one and paid towards its support, but would prefer that it not be necessary.

Murghab Bazaar and Shopping

We planned to stop here after lunch briefly (I ended up visiting later in the day instead), and it’s actually one of the most interesting places in town.

Murghab’s small bazaar is made from repurposed shipping containers and serves as the commercial center of the eastern Pamirs.  There are small grocery stalls, local food vendors, and basic clothing and supplies.  There’s no logic to what’s where, and you just have to wander!

Pamir Highway Day 6: Altitude Notes

It’s high altitude all day today.  We haven’t gone below 3,600 meters.  The plan was to sleep at 3,900 meters, (12975 feet) at Karakol Lake, but we have a wee bit of a medical emergency and so we’re stopping here in Murghab, for today at least, possibly longer.

For the full altitude breakdown, see my Pamir Highway altitude guide here.

Medical Emergency & Change of Plans in Murghab on Day 6 of the Pamir Highway

At lunch in Murghab, Vladimir has gone off in search of beer, Robert isn’t hungry, and Nigel, Habib, and I have just ordered our manti and tea when Robert stands up and promptly faints.  Habib and I catch him, sit him down.  Head between his knees.  We are just discussing going to the hospital – there is one here –  when he faints again.  While sitting down.  Discussion over.  Habib and I manhandle him back to the car, Nigel pays the bill, and we rush to the hospital.

It’s a short drive.  And we are in the only hospital facility between Dushanbe and Osh.  Robert is sitting on the examination table, and his blood oxygen levels are being taken.  They’re 92%, which is not bad at 3,618 meters.  His blood pressure isn’t so good 90/70.  His hands are cold. He has no fever.   The nurse confirms all of this.  Dr. Abdimanap confirms it all.  And begins a few questions.

He’s been taking Diamox since we got to 3000 meters.  Diamox helps with acclimatization to altitude.  You can read more about how it works here. It also dehydrates you says the Doctor.  And that’s the problem, he’s very dehydrated.  He absolutely cannot leave Murghab and go higher in altitude.  He needs to stay. At least until he’s had some fluids – an infusion they call it.  They get a drip in pretty quickly, hot sweet tea and biscuits arrive quickly too.

The problem seems to be that ChatGPT told him to take 2 tablets twice a day.  ChatGPT is not a recognized medical professional.  Don’t listen to ChatGPT.  (We took half a tablet once a day when hiking to 5,500 meters in Nepal).

Meanwhile, Habib disappears off to find Vladimir, whom we just abandoned as he’d gone off to search for beer.  Our 70-year-old Czech is savvy enough to figure out that something is wrong.  He speaks Russian.  Habib finds him sitting on the pavement outside the café we were in, drinking his beer.

Nigel and I stay with Robert, we’re all still in the Doctor’s office, where there’s a stove in the corner, and a desk. The nurse comes back regularly to check.  The Doctor puts his head in.  The Doctor is wearing a suit and a baseball cap.  The male nurse also wears a baseball cap.  There’s a young chap with a baseball cap, double-breasted jacket, and sunnies.  It seems the baseball cap marks you as a member of staff.  The young chap makes conversation with Nigel.  It seems strange until we find out that he’s actually a doctor too; he qualified last year and is back here (he grew up in the town) to gain experience.

While we’re waiting, an Indonesian man comes in, and Nigel and I scramble to the side of the room.  He’s been having problems breathing, and his lips are a little blue.  His blood oxygen is down in the 60-ish percent.  The Doctor declares he’s going nowhere until he’s had some oxygen and he’s led off to another room.

It takes about an hour for Robert’s fluid to go in, and although he’s not entirely steady on his feet, the Doctor is ok for him to leave, but as long as he stays in Murghab.  We’re all staying.  Young dude doctor says he knows of a homestay, so once Dr. Abdimanap says we can leave, we pile into the car.  There’s no room for the young dude, so he grabs a bicycle and cycles ahead of us.  Up hill.  Remember, we’re at 3,600 meters.  We’re all full of admiration, but it’s funny to watch.

Robert is under strict instructions to drink the electrolyte replacement drinks that the doctor and Habib have gone to the pharmacy to get.  He’s got red pills to take before food.  Black pills to take after food.  But he’s only allowed biscuits, bread, tea, and water.  

We make it to the homestay, and it’s pretty good.  Vladimir gets his own room, Nigel and I will stay in the same room as Robert to make sure he’s ok.  Young Doctor dude and Habib get him into bed, and we mix up his electrolyte drink, and I go shopping for biscuits.  Nigel is under instruction to go with him if Robert needs the loo.  The last thing he needs is a concussion if he faints again.

The shopping mall here is a village of old shipping containers. It’s a 7-8 minute walk down the hill from the homestay, and I pass a local walking back up slowly, which doesn’t bode well for how long it will take me to get back up the hill!  There are no signs on all the shipping containers, so I have to poke my head into about 10 before I find biscuits rather than pots, pans, clothes, and the like.  There’s a huge choice, but I aim for one closest to what the hospital had given him.  And then I bump into Cory and the Borderless Expeditions Group in their orange UAZ.  The Koreans are mightily concerned for Robert, and I pass on their regards.

We have dinner and lots of tea to drink.  Robert has some bread and some tea, and we all retire to bed.  There’s a shower here, and a toilet, and both are inside the building, which is a relief for all, but we can’t be bothered with a shower.  We all seem to sleep, and the next morning, Robert can walk in a straight line unaided, and while he doesn’t seem to look forward to his breakfast of tea and electrolyte drink, he does manage a little more bread and several biscuits too. 

We have to head back to the hospital to see Dr. Abdimanap again before we can leave the safety of Murghab.

My guide to what happened on Day 7 of the Pamir Highway is here.

Pamir Highway Day 6: Accommodation

Murghab has the largest range of accommodation options in the eastern Pamirs.  It’s all still simple guesthouses or homestays, and electricity is generally more reliable here than in smaller villages.  Murghab is also where many travelers rest before the final push toward Kyrgyzstan.  Your driver (or Doctor!) will recommend where to stay.

Final Thoughts on Day 6 of the Pamir Highway

Our journey didn’t go as planned today, but hey, this is traveling.  We are WAY better safe than sorry.  Staying close to the only medical support is the sensible thing to do, and there’s no way any of us were going any further.  I’m glad, but also sad, that I got to see a snow leopard, although I would have preferred it to have been through a zoom lens in its natural habitat.  Today has been an adventure, the landscapes have been magnificent, the air very thin, and the Tajik people have been amazing.  All of them.  Tomorrow is hopefully the last day of our Pamir Highway Adventure, not because I want it to finish, but getting down to a much lower altitude seems to be sensible at this point.

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